Watched the entire boring game, here's my thoughts

[Joe7]

DT Dalton played well all things considered, I think he may be a steal, couldn't tell the difference in looking at him from Big Daddy, wears same #, I think his heart is bigger though.

DB Fred Booker will be cut, I believe, he seemed physically weak when trying to tackle, and plays far off the receivers in coverage.

DB Jimoh impressed me throughout the game, looks better than Smoot did his rookie preseason

S Terrell once again cost us a touchdown, took a bad angle at the runner as he ran in from 8 yards

Zellner looked good, plays with fire, hope his injury is not bad

Wuerffel looked worse than his statistics indicate, but I think that is mostly just rust

WR Russell is a clown, he cannot catch a cold. Could have caught a nicely thrown pass from Wuerffel for a TD, would have been a nice catch, but you could tell he has no confidence. I like Wood**** better, he is one of those white boys that always seems to just know how to get open, reminds me of a faster, shorter version of Doering, he's hard to cover.

McCants and P. Johnson both played like starting receivers last night, the only glaring positive about the game, in my opinion

Betts was manhandled on one play I saw, trying to block a LB

none of our RBs looked like anything special last night, only thing I noticed was Watson's smarts, rushing to get out of bounds to stop the clock. I am partial to Watson as the starter

Ohalete I like, played well on ST as well

Hall played great except for one bad kickoff out of bounds that was not even close, glad it woke him up in a practice game, let's hope it was just a mental lapse.

Our defense looked pretty soft first hald and part of 2nd, no one would step up, they seemed to be playing like it was a practice game, and they didn't want to get hurt, I was surprised since no one seemed overly interested in impressing the coaches, LB play mostly, D-line at least seemed to be trying. One play a stopped runner moved the pile almost 10 yards simply by determination. other couple of plays a runner would be running beside and among several would-be tacklers, and it;s like, you wanna tackle him? na, you wanna tackle him? embarassing!

Ramsey's int. looked bad, right into coverage, don't know what he was thinking. not a good sign, saved by penalty but still a very bad decision

DT Chase looked pretty good to me as well

QB R Johnson fumbles so much because he holds the ball like a loaf of bread, if he doesn't learn he deserves to be 3rd string! you would think he would have learned by now, he is supposed to be a veteran QB!

Flemister was begging to fumble on his catch as well, but otherwise looked pretty impressive, he was open for a TD pass but Weurffel overthrew him in 2nd half

Didn't notice Royal at all, did he play?

What bothered me most was the way our team played early when there were several starters playing, if we play anything like that against the Jets they will kill us, we have to play with alot of emotion to try to match the Jets emotion because they will be out for blood.

Hail Redskins!

[RTerps2002]

Thanks for the update. I was stuck at school

[orlskinsfan]

it was a very uninspiring game...they played with no sense of urgency which was really surprising for players who are trying to make the team...i guess these players knew they would be cut and didnt give a damn.

[gridironmike]

Originally posted by Joe7

Wuerffel looked worse than his statistics indicate, but I think that is mostly just rust

His rust is beyond repair. It is built in..

[Larry]

Y'know, I would've thought, given a thread title of "Watched the entire boring game, here's my thoughts", that the first "thought" listed would be "Why did I . . . "

[Om]

Anyone else wonder if, on Patrick's INT, Cliff Russell rounded of his route and went at least 2 or 3 yards too deep? Looked like Pat was expecting Cliff to break in FRONT of the defender and simply threw to a spot.

Not that I'm crazy about that whole "throw to a spot" deal, but on a quick, short pass like that in traffic over the middle, which you have to run several times a game, a QB needs to be able to count on his receiver being where he's supposed to.

Maybe I read it wrong, but, having watched Cliff not quite seem to be where the QB's -- all of them -- expecte him to be all preseason, I'm inclined to think Pat went with timing aspect of the route ... and Cliff didn't.

Or maybe Pat DID just sleep on the guy in blue.

Or maybe it was just a crappy play all round.

[Phat Hog]

And here is a list my thoughts from last night's game:

:jump:

:?:

:40oz:

:rubeyes:

:yawnee:

:snore:

[NBlue]

Just wanted to echo that I also thought Patrick Johnson looked extremely good last night. He had good seperation and always seemed to be open (and actually made the catch when the ball was thrown to him). Look forward to seeing more of him in the regular season.

[All In]

We will probably be looking at Cliff Russel on the inactive list for most of the games this season. There is no reason to play him in place of Coles, Gardner, Jacobs, Johnson, or McCants. Those 5 have earned active roster spots for the year, Russell has earned another year on the roster. Wood**** is probably camp fodder next year, but if there is an open spot on the Practice Squad then he's earned that too.

RBs, well if there is no trade then take the chance and put McCullough on waivers. If he clears then sign him to the practice squad. We really haven't seen enough from Betts or Watson besides last year. Keep four RBs if possible, any combination unless we really need that roster spot.

LBs, Pierce Mitchell are depth. C. Smith has been playing very well, and may have earned a spot.

I think every other position has been decided on. The only question is who do we keep on Oline and Dline, that will determine who we keep at RB, 3 or 4.

[The Sir]

It looked to me like Cliff Russell made his cut and would have stepped right in front of the guy who got the INT had he not been held. He probably would have dropped it though.

I dont understand all the love for Watson, Betts is simply the better player. Everyone wants to talk about how Watson is just as good or better between the tackles as Betts and has just as much power or more than Betts. They say he's got just as good or a better initial burst as Betts. None of those are even remotely true. If it had been Betts that got stopped 2 consecutive times on 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 1, yall would have been saying "CUT HIM NOW!!!! He should have been a sixth rounder. He doesnt fit the system at all"

[Mad Mike]

Originally posted by Om

Anyone else wonder if, on Patrick's INT, Cliff Russell rounded of his route and went at least 2 or 3 yards too deep? Looked like Pat was expecting Cliff to break in FRONT of the defender and simply threw to a spot.

Not that I'm crazy about that whole "throw to a spot" deal, but on a quick, short pass like that in traffic over the middle, which you have to run several times a game, a QB needs to be able to count on his receiver being where he's supposed to.

Maybe I read it wrong, but, having watched Cliff not quite seem to be where the QB's -- all of them -- expecte him to be all preseason, I'm inclined to think Pat went with timing aspect of the route ... and Cliff didn't.

Or maybe Pat DID just sleep on the guy in blue.

Or maybe it was just a crappy play all round.

Om. I watched the whole boring game TWICE. :laugh:

On the play you are refering to, Russell was held up on his rout by a DB. Loked like a basketball play where the defender steped in front of him and stoped his forward progress.

Of the two passes that went to him in the end zone, one was, imposible, overthrown and just out of reach and the other (the first of the two) would have been one for the highlight reals if he had made it. It was a diving attempt with a defender wrapped all over him (looked like he was tripped up as well) and the point he touched the ball was about 1 foot off the ground. Add to that the play where he was mugged and the defender held his arms down on a curl and you have 4 balls only one of which was remotely catchable.

This is not to say Russell doesn't need to improve. The problem I see with him is he needs to be more physical. He gets held up on the line. DBs would throw him off his stride and nullify his speed. But I didn't see anything that could not be overcome. He's still a rookie for all practical purposes. (did he even play in a preseason game last year?) And he's our #4 or #5 WR. Give him a year to figure things out and develop the toughness he needs and he could be very good. Just to ignore the knee jerk reactionaries.

[Om]

Russell's speed and apparent ability to find space will earn him a roster spot, and probably a job in the league for several years. Whether or not he turns out to have NFL hands remains to be seen.

As of right now, it just doesn't appear to me he's quite ready to be a consistent contributor at this point. For whatever reasons, the balls that have gone his way thus far all seem to end up skipping on the turf, noticeably more so than those going to anyone else. I don't care WHY that is at this point as much as THAT it is.

I think he'll be around another year at least here, and probably see some limited action during the year. Right now I have him behind both P. Johnson and D McCants, though.

[NavyDave]

Russell will look good as the 4th or 5th receiver in S Doubles multi receiver set this year and that should build up his confidence

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Russell has job security in the NFL due to his speed. Much like Patrick Johnson. If he can learn to run precise routes and catch more consistently he can be a solid #3 or #4 WR. Not this year though. But I hope we keep him.

[Joe7]

I just watched the game a second time, admit some of passes to Russell were tough to catch, but one of those in the end zone (to the left) was RIGHT IN HIS CHEST! They called roughing the passer against Jax on the play, a bad call for good for us. Wouldn't have made any highlight reel, ended up being difference in the game, we settle for a field goal that drive.

And I didn't realize, he was the receiver in there on Ramsay's pick, and he did run a somewhat hesitant pass pattern, wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was his fault. If nothing else, at least McCants and Johnson's performance will hopefully keep him out of meaningful situations.

[Mad Mike]

Originally posted by Om

Russell's speed and apparent ability to find space will earn him a roster spot, and probably a job in the league for several years. Whether or not he turns out to have NFL hands remains to be seen.

As of right now, it just doesn't appear to me he's quite ready to be a consistent contributor at this point. For whatever reasons, the balls that have gone his way thus far all seem to end up skipping on the turf, noticeably more so than those going to anyone else. I don't care WHY that is at this point as much as THAT it is.

I think he'll be around another year at least here, and probably see some limited action during the year. Right now I have him behind both P. Johnson and D McCants, though.

A very reasonable assesment.

I Just don't understand the "cut him now" crowd. If there is one weakness I can deal with from a rookie WR, it's the need to be more physical. Give him a year of practice, training, and spot duty. If he shows no improvement by this time next year, then I would be concerned.

[MikeB]

Originally posted by Phat Hog

And here is a list my thoughts from last night's game:

:jump:

:?:

:40oz:

:rubeyes:

:yawnee:

:snore:

I like it, I like it!!! Got a nice chuckle out of that one!

[Mad Mike]

Originally posted by Joe7

I just watched the game a second time, admit some of passes to Russell were tough to catch, but one of those in the end zone (to the left) was RIGHT IN HIS CHEST! They called roughing the passer against Jax on the play, a bad call for good for us. Wouldn't have made any highlight reel, ended up being difference in the game, we settle for a field goal that drive.

And I didn't realize, he was the receiver in there on Ramsay's pick, and he did run a somewhat hesitant pass pattern, wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was his fault. If nothing else, at least McCants and Johnson's performance will hopefully keep him out of meaningful situations.

BS. Was he, or was he not, diving for the ball? Sorry but you don't have to dive for a ball that hits you in the chest.

[redman]

The one point we agree on is that Russell needs to improve.

That being said, I'll repeat myself by saying that we don't "need" him to improve this year. We have 4-5 guys who can get it done in front of him on our roster. He's a nice compliment to them for the time being as a burner and deep threat in multi-WR, spread formations.

I don't care if he has claws for hands, if he's open and deep, the defense will have to account for him, and that will create opportunities for guys like Gardner, McCants, and Taylor underneath.

I'd also remind you that he's playing effectively in his first set of preseason games, in an offense that he only had about a week's worth of training camp experience in a year ago before suffering his knee injury. That knee injury of course prevented him from practicing for much of the last 12 months. The point is he's effectively a rookie, and we knew he was raw when we drafted him. We need not cut him, so let's give him the time he needs to show us whether he can up his game.

[BD]

I think Russell is definitely on a steep curve. He has great potential, though. He could eventually be an Az Hakim type -- someone built for the slot, who is best at running deep patterns and pulling the safeties back away from the starters.

He had problems making catches, yes. But I think all of those catches were tough, in traffic, and not the ones I'd expect a rookie to make. Patrick Johnson has been making those catches, and that's why he's earned the #4 spot, I think. Russell hasn't - but that's not what he's built for, anyway.

And don't forget: for most of the game, Russell was trying to stretch and grab balls thrown by good ole noodle-arm, not Ramsey.

[redman]

Az Hakim is an excellent model for him. It's highly unlikely (and God forbid BTW) that we'd rely upon Russell to be a go-to WR in our offense. The most he'd ever amount to long term would be a #2 WR opposite Taylor or Gardner, and that wouldn't happen for at least 3 or 4 years.

But look at how important a good #3 WR is like Hakim. I don't think it's a coincidence that Bruce's and Holt's numbers have declined since Hakim departed. While some of that is due to Warner's problems, the fact is that his speed opened up a lot of things for them, even if he was only catching 30 or so passes a year.

[Redskins4Life]

The thing you have to remember about Russell is that he didn't play at all last year ... so he might be having the same kind of mental problems right now with the kind of football that Gardner had his rookie year. Why in the hell the college football has 2 white stripes near both cones, is beyond me ... but it sure as hell makes it for bad adjusting when you get to the pro's.

I know the arguement to my arguement will be "well, he's had 1+year to adjust his "mental brains" to pro-ball. This is true. However ... you simply cannot expect someone to adjust when they haven't actually been in real genuine game-time situations. This is what we fans, will have to be patient about with Russell.